


Hated, and loved, and known

by memoriesoflastwords



Category: Hunger Games - Fandom
Genre: District 12, District 2, F/M, Friendship, Love, OC, Original Character - Freeform, Trauma, after war, end of love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 06:19:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11549274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memoriesoflastwords/pseuds/memoriesoflastwords
Summary: After leaving District 12, Gale Hawthorne has been looking for a place where he could belong. He has spent time with Annie and her child, with Johanna, even working for Paylor. Yet, he would still feel out of place. But maybe he was wrong looking for a place. Maybe he had to look for a person. And maybe Ivory Lexington, a retired soldier from District 2, could finally be that "place".





	Hated, and loved, and known

It's not easy, being Gale Hawthorne. It's not easy, nor it's pretty. People know you – some blame you, some love you. But everyone, every single person, child, soldier, knows who you are, what you've done.  
I moved from District 12 because I couldn't stand meeting Katniss in the roads and not being able to talk to her because it would've made her angry, or because she was with Peeta, or Haymitch, or Effie, or, worse, with her children. The girl is just like her, while the baby boy is the exact same as Peeta. I loved them. I would've loved them, if Katniss had let me. But she didn't. She didn't want me in her life, or in her children's. She still blamed me.  
So I moved. I went to every single District looking for a new place to live in, looking for a place I could belong to. But I never seemed to find that place – not with Annie, nor with Johanna, nor at the Paylor's service.  
I was a vagabond. People knew me, but had no pity for me. For them, I was the soldier who had killed thousands of children. Some people knew the truth, but they couldn't stand me anyway. So I just disappeared, just another of the many lost soldiers. I had to find myself before I could find a home.  
And someday, just like that, it happened. I met her. Her name was Ivory Lexington, and she had lost her parents and her fiancé during the war. We never talked about wheter or not my bomb had killed them – she didn't want to know, I didn't want to know. It would've hurt too much to leave her too.  
She was perfect. She was delicate. She was passionate. Her white hands could do magic on my body, her blonde hair was as shiny as the sun. She had been a warrior. She had fought. She had killed. Her senses were still awake while she slept. She had a lot of weapons hidden under her bed. She was hated, and loved, and known. She was so similar to me, I couldn't stop mirroring myself in her, seeing my past, my present, maybe my future.  
But it hurt, being with her. It hurt having people looking at us, judging us for our past lives' choices. We couldn't just "be" – we had to fight against ghosts of a past we didn't belong to anymore. But the worst thing of it all was that I couldn't leave. I couldn't just pack my bags and go back to District 12, because I was in love. In love with her. With how her name tasted on my toungue, so sweet. With how her hair were everywhere on my pillow at night. With how she would call me after a long work day. With how she would shiver in every inch of her body after a kiss, asking for more.  
One day, we fought. I couldn't be in love. I couldn't stay with her. I could stand people judging me, people judging her, but not people criticizing her because of me. I wanted her to be safe, even if it meant being alone. Even if it meant not belonging anymore.  
"I'm going back to 12", I said, sitting on the bed.  
"I'm coming with you", she answered back, smiling. "I always wanted to know your family, and friends. And Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch. They are legends".  
"We were legends, too. But we are not anymore. We are criticized for every little thing we do", I murmured, getting up and moving towards the door. "And you... you make me feel. You make me feel, you made me fell in love with you, and I don't like it, I want it to stop, now, because I have to leave, because I love you and I feel selfish and I hate myself for ruining your life by wanting you".  
"You are not ruining anything!", she said, confused, hugging me from behind. "People criticize us? Fine. They will always find a way to criticize us, like they did with Katniss, when she killed Alma Coin, remember? They will never be completely happy for anyone that isn't them. But I don't want to lose you because of what they think or say about us. I love you, Gale Hawthorne, and I do it for who you are, not for who people say you are".  
"And I love you, Ivory Lexington", I confessed, every inch of my being reversing into my words. "I love you, I love you, I love you".  
We didn't leave that night. We never did. We stayed in District 2. We married. We had a child, a little girl we called Cora. People stopped criticizing us to start gossiping about her – would she have liked Finnick's little boy? Or would she have preferred Katniss and Peeta's?  
One night, in August, while Cora was sleeping, I packed my bags.  
"Leaving without saying goodbye?", Ivory asked, kissing my neck. I smiled.  
"Preparing our bags for tomorrow", I answered, flipping her around and kissing her mouth, slowly. "You were right when you said people would've always found something to criticize us for. I just hope moving back to District 12 won't be a reason for them to start new gossips".  
"Like what? Me having an affair with Haymitch, or you with Katniss?", she smiled. "Well, I know the last one isn't exactly hard to believe to, but..."  
"Don't even think about that. It's over. Katniss is not mine, I am not hers. I am yours, and Cora's. Now, and until my last day", I stopped her. "I would love to be able to talk with Katniss, and make things better between us – but as friends. Nothing more. You are home. I belong here, with you, or in District 12, as long as I am with you".  
Ivory smiled again, purely. "You are such a women's men, soldier Hawthorne".  
"Just a woman's, soldier Lexington. Just a woman's".

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you liked this OS, as I plan on doing many, many more! If you want to get updates on my writing, you can follow me on Instagram (@v.lazarus) or on Tumblr (@paroleinpillole) :D


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